The present invention relates the keeping of honey bees in bee hives, and more particularly to, maintaining the health of the bees with oxalic acid vaporization in the hive which kills Varroa and Tracheal mites that are detrimental to the health of the bees without harming the bees.
Prior art FIG. 1 shows a typical honey bee hive 10. The bees come out of and enter into the bee hive 10 through entrance/exit 12 which typically has a removable reducer 14. Inside the hive are honeycombs. Honey gets its start as flower nectar, which is collected by bees, naturally breaks down into simple sugars and is stored in honeycombs. The unique design of the honeycomb, coupled with constant fanning by the bees' wings, causes evaporation to take place, creating the thick, sweet liquid known as honey.
In the mid-1980s, the number one destructive pest of the western honey bee (Apis mellifera), the parasitic mite Varroa destructor, was introduced to the United States and has since spread to almost all honey bee colonies in North America. Varroa was first detected on western honey bees back in the 1950s. It now is present in most areas of the world where the western honey bee is present, as a result of natural migration, but most actively with assistance from humans who move bees for trade both legally and illegally It is now difficult to find a “varroa-free” western honey bee colony anywhere except for Australia and Newfoundland in Canada, and possibly a few other isolated island locations.
Varroa mites are external honeybee parasites that attack both the adults and the brood, with a distinct preference for drone brood. They suck the blood from both the adults and the developing brood, weakening and shortening the life span of the ones on which they feed. Emerging brood may be deformed with missing legs or wings. Untreated infestations of varroa mites that are allowed to increase will kill honeybee colonies.
Prior art FIG. 2 shows a typical prior art oxalic acid vaporizer 18 for bee hives 10. The vaporization of oxalic acid in bee hives is a proven method of killing both Varroa & Tracheal mites. This vaporizer 18 typically comes with a cup or crucible 20 for heating and vaporizing oxalic acid by heating the cup 20 with a heating element 22, such as a diesel glow plug. The cup 20 is mounted on a rod 24 with internal wires (not shown). A handle 30 is provided for gripping the vaporizer 18 and an external cord 32 connected to the internal wires terminates in battery post clamps 34.
In operation, simply load the cup 20 of the vaporizer 18 with one gram (per deep box) of oxalic acid (HOOCCOOH) by use of a one gram scoop 40 (FIG. 3). Next, remove the entrance reducer 14 and insert the cup 20 into the hive 10 up to the entrance block 28 and connect the battery clamps 34 to any 12 volt, 12 amp battery. The vaporization will complete in about 2.5 minutes. Thereafter, the battery clamps 34 must be removed from the battery. The bee keeper must have a timer 36 (FIG. 4) as to not leave the vaporizer 18 on for too long which may cause a burning of the acid, the hive, fire in the hive 10 or death of bees. The vaporizer 18 is left in the hive for some additional time ranging from a minute up to ten minutes to seal in the vapors. The timer 36 is used to gauge the second timing period. The vaporizer 18 may then be removed from the hive 10.
There are severe risks involved with the use oxalic acid. Given its caustic effect on the eyes, skin and respiratory system, it's labeled with the highest degree of toxicity, “Category 1.” As with all pesticides, caution must be taken when handling oxalic acid by using a respirator, goggles and gloves. One should also try to remain upwind from the vapor cloud that is made with the vaporizer 18.
The prior art oxalic acid vaporizers have problems. Unknown, weak and unregulated car or vehicle battery connections to the vaporizer heating elements can affect the efficiency and complete vaporization in a timely manner. The necessity of a timer for timing two vaporizer operational periods requires the undivided attention of the bee keeper making it most difficult if not impossible to vaporize more than one hive at a time. Thus oxalic acid vaporization of bee hives is dangerous to both beekeepers and bees, time consuming and requires devote attention.